Kentucky Derby Results 2015: Twitter Reaction to 141st Race from Churchill Downs

Heralded as a potential all-time great ahead of the 141st Kentucky Derby, American Pharoah didn't disappoint as he used a late surge to prevail Saturday at Churchill Downs.

The favorite, ridden by Victor Espinoza, was able to edge out Gary Stevens and Firing Line in second as well as Dortmund and Martin Garcia, who had to settle for a show finish.

Here is a full rundown of the finishing order from Saturday's epic race:

Place	No.	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Lengths
1	18	American Pharoah	Victor Espinoza	Bob Baffert	-----
2	10	Firing Line	Gary Stevens	Simon Callaghan	1
3	8	Dortmund	Martin Garcia	Bob Baffert	3
4	15	Frosted	Joel Rosario	Kiaran McLaughlin	3 1/4
5	5	Danzig Moon	Julien Leparoux	Mark Casse	6 1/2
6	3	Materiality	Javier Castellano	Todd Pletcher	7 3/4
7	14	Keen Ice	Kent Desormeaux	Dale Romans	8 3/4
8	6	Mubtaahij	Christophe Soumillon	Mike de Kock	9 1/2
9	13	Itsaknockout	Luis Saez	Todd Pletcher	10 1/4
10	2	Carpe Diem	John Velazquez	Todd Pletcher	11
11	21	Frammento	Corey Nakatani	Nick Zito	12
12	9	Bolo	Rafael Bejarano	Carla Gaines	12 3/4
13	17	Mr. Z	Ramon Vazquez	D. Wayne Lukas	15 1/2
14	1	Ocho Ocho Ocho	Elvis Trujillo	Jim Cassidy	15 1/2
15	20	Far Right	Mike Smith	Ron Moquett	15 3/4
16	16	War Story	Joe Talamo	Tom Amoss	19 1/4
17	4	Tencendur	Manny Franco	George Weaver	35
18	19	Upstart	Jose Ortiz	Rick Violette Jr.	60 1/2
	7	El Kabeir	Calvin Borel	John Terranova	SCR
	11	Stanford	Florent Geroux	Todd Pletcher	SCR
	12	International Star	Miguel Mena	Michael Maker	SCR

Per ESPN Stats & Info, American Pharoah defied the odds despite being favored as he won from the No. 17 post:

"

American Pharoah: 1st horse to ever win from post position 17 5th win in 6 lifetime starts (won each of last 5)

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 2, 2015"

It was a spectacular day in Louisville, Kentucky, for trainer Bob Baffert, whose two horses in the field came in first and third. While American Pharoah was the betting-line favorite, per Odds Shark, Baffert was only cautiously optimistic entering the race, according to David Grening of Daily Racing Form:

The colt was as good as advertised, and his win helped Baffert join some elite company in Kentucky Derby history, per ESPN Stats & Info:

After the race, Baffert gave all the credit to American Pharoah for running a fine race, according to Jonathan Lintner of The Courier-Journal:

Along with Baffert, Espinoza made some history as well. The Mexican-born jockey won the Derby for the second consecutive year, which led to an amusing declaration following the race, per Daily Racing Form Harness on Twitter:

American Pharoah was lurking behind Dortmund and Firing Line throughout the race before making his move late. As pointed out by Dan Wolken of USA Today, though, the jockey seemed as though he knew that he was atop the class of the field:

Many felt that way prior to the Run for the Roses, and Garcia reiterated it after leading Dortmund to a third-place result, per Steve Jones of The Courier-Journal:

While Baffert and Espinoza are veterans when it comes to winning the Fastest Two Minutes in Sports, the victory broke a string of futility for owner Ahmed Zayat, who suffered through several close calls over the years, according to Janet Patton of Kentucky.com:

Congratulations were in order for everyone involved with American Pharoah following the race, and the messages poured in via social media.

Minnesota Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph applauded the awesome finish between American Pharoah, Firing Line and Dortmund:

University of Arizona head football coach Rich Rodriguez also got in on the act:

NBC's Howard Fineman gave a tip of the cap to Baffert and American Pharoah for managing to win even with a ton of pressure on their shoulders:

There have been many highly touted horses who have fallen flat at Churchill Downs over the years for one reason or another, but American Pharoah and the entire team surrounding him rose to the occasion.

No horse has won the Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978, and while doing so is going to be extremely difficult, American Pharoah may have the talent to get the job done.

The stamina and finishing ability he showed in the Kentucky Derby were something to behold, and he'll need every ounce of those attributes to win the second and third jewels of the Triple Crown.  

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.